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Emmerdale viewers have been begging the soap to end the grooming storyline between Maya Stepney (played by Louisa Clein) and Jacob Gallager (Joe-Warren Plant) for weeks.  After airing some

uncomfortable albeit important scenes, producer Kate Brooks has revealed the plot will be concluding shortly. But will Maya be charge for grooming the teen? Express.co.uk spoke exclusively

to Zahra Awaiz-Bilal, an associate lawyer who specialises in child abuse at Bolt Burdon Kemp about the legal implications the school teacher will face when she gets caught.  Zahra explained:

“The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 came into force in January 2001 and made it an offence for a person older than 18 who is in a specified 'position of trust' to have any

sexual activity with a person under the age of 18. “Maya will therefore be prosecuted,” she confirmed. “As Jacob’s teacher, she is in a “position of trust” and therefore she has committed an

offence by engaging in a sexual activity with him.”  Despite Jacob agreeing to have a sexual relationship with Maya, Zahra clarified: “This [prosecution] applies even if the relationship is

consensual.” Once the truth is revealed, there will no doubt be implications for Jacob and he could have to speak out against Maya. The lawyer said: “He will need to give a statement and or

video interview to the police, detailing exactly what happened. He will also need to give evidence in the criminal court when Maya is prosecuted. “Given his age, he can do this via a video

link or from behind a screen so that he does not have to face Maya in court. His details can be anonymised to protect his identity.”  As for how the storyline is going to play out on screen,

there has been a suggestion Tracy Metcalfe (Amy Walsh) is going to be the first to find out about Maya grooming Jacob.  It comes after an episode which aired earlier this week when she

called David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) home early, worried about Jacob’s health.  After convincing both David and Tracy he was feeling much better, there was a moment when the schoolboy

noticed Maya slip up.  The camera showed her fiddling with her shirt buttons attempt to hide the fact they were open.  But following Tracy’s suspicions about their illness, does this mean

she is onto Maya’s bizarre behaviour?  Alongside this, many viewers have suggested she will be the first village resident to expose their relationship.  There has also been suggestions the

storyline could take an entirely different turn and reveal Maya to be pregnant.  After being sexually involved with both Jacob and David, script writers could drop a major bombshell with the

school teacher not knowing who the potential father is.  And it also seems very possible that manipulative Maya could lie about being pregnant in order to salvage her relationship with

Jacob should it be exposed.  Although none of this has been indicated from the episodes, there is a chance it could happen in upcoming scenes. _IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY

THE GROOMING STORYLINE PLEASE CONTACT BANARDO'S WEBSITE HERE. _ _EMMERDALE AIRS WEEKNIGHTS AT 7PM ON ITV. _